1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a sheet discharge device which transfers sheets of paper discharged from an electrostatic copying machine, printer and other sheet handling devices to a plurality of sheet trays. This kind of sheet discharge devices includes a sorter which distributes sheets successively discharged from a sheet handling device to sheet trays.
2. DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND
Heretofore there has been known a sorter which consists of a plurality of bins vertically disposed at given intervals, a recorded paper carrier having a belt disposed close to the bins to carry recorded sheets of paper upwards or downwards and a suction fan drawing the recorded sheets into the belt, a lift member disposed and vertically movable between the recorded paper carrier and the bins, a lift driver raising the lift member, a direction changer disposed at the lift member to direct to a desired bin a traveling direction of recorded sheets of paper being transferred by the recorded paper carrier, and a pair of paper discharge rollers disposed at the lift member to discharge on a desired bin recorded sheets whose direction was changed by the direction changer.
The aforesaid sorter, however, must change a transfer direction of recorded sheets of paper on a recorded paper carrier for a variety of discharge position heights of recorded sheets in an image recording device, one of the sheet handling devices. For example, the belt must be transferred from a lower to an upper position recorded sheets are discharged at the lower position of the image recording device, and on the other hand the belt must be transferred from an upper to a lower position discharged at the upper position. Therefore, a direction configuration must be changed over for one case where the direction of recorded sheets has been transferred from a lower direction and for another case where the direction of recorded sheets has been transferred from an upper direction. Such switching of the direction change member configuration is extremely troublesome.
In addition, the direction change member, which must change the direction of recorded sheet being transferred from either upper and lower directions, may involve an extremely complicated configuration.